


Kimi's Flowers

by xoxodelvidestruction



Category: Formula 1 RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:17:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21919054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxodelvidestruction/pseuds/xoxodelvidestruction
Summary: Lando has no idea what to do when his crush, Carlos, happens in to the flower shop he works at. Carlos needs flowers for a woman, but who is she to him?
Relationships: Lando Norris & Kimi Räikkönen, Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51
Collections: Motorsport Secret Santa 2019





	Kimi's Flowers

Lando bounded through the backdoor of the little flowershop, a half-eaten donut in his hand and his shirt buttoned incorrectly. He was nearly ten minutes late, but Kimi didn’t mind. The kid was like a nephew to him and he knew Lando would work late to compensate for his absence. 

Kimi glanced up, already on the third phone call of the morning. He nodded at the Brit, gesturing towards a partially finished bouquet. Lando immediately stepped over to it, grabbing the last few clippings to add some greenery. He reached for the tissue paper to wrap it up, but his glaze-covered fingers stuck to each sheet he touched. 

“Wash your hands before you start touching things,” Kimi tutted, holding his hand over the phone. He scribbled down a few notes before saying his goodbyes. “Hold still,” he said, successfully pulling two sheets away without tearing them. 

“Sorry,” Lando grinned sheepishly, his ears tipped red. He shoved the last of the donut in his mouth and went to brush the crumbs off his shirt. It was then Lando finally realised his shirt was askew. He started unbuttoning it when the bell over the front door chimed. Kimi was still working to unstick the tissue paper stack so Lando marched out. 

“Oh! You!” he gasped, a blush spreading across his cheeks as he stood face to face with his crush. 

Carlos was a grad student at the same university and Lando could never keep from staring when he saw him in the library. They had met once when Lando accidentally walked into him as he left the building, dropping the book he had been carrying. Carlos had stumbled back a step, avoiding the swinging door. Their hands had touched as they both reached for fallen book. The dark-haired man smiled and Lando thought he might throw up he was so nervous. Lando squeaked out something similar to a thank you and scurried away. 

“I didn’t know you worked here,” Carlos smiled, glancing down at Lando’s partially bare chest. “Um, your…” he trailed off, motioning to the buttons on his own shirt. 

“Jinkies!” Lando spun on his heel, wanting to hide some of his embarrassment. He buttoned his shirt as quickly as he could, the blush now spreading so far that Carlos could see it creeping up his neck. He grinned to himself, enjoying how cute Lando was when flustered. “Sorry, how can I help you?” he asked, clearly taking a deep breath to calm down. 

“I need some flowers for a birthday. I left it to the last minute so I’ll take any recommendations you have,” Carlos replied, looking over the brightly coloured flowers around the shop. He waited a few moments, wondering if Lando was just thinking. “Lando?” 

“Birthday, right,” Lando repeated, shaking his head. He was going to have to listen to Carlos’ words and stop getting lost in how beautiful his accent was. “For that I’d suggest something bright,” he began, moving over to grab a variety of tulips. He laid them on the counter and carefully clipped the ends. 

Carlos watched over his shoulder as Lando arranged them neatly, paying careful attention to the colours he was mixing. One of Lando’s curls had gone rogue, hanging down over his forehead. For a moment, Carlos imagined what it would be like to brush it back. 

“How about this?” Lando asked, interrupting Carlos’ wandering thoughts. He held out the bouquet of tulips, neatly wrapped with a coloured ribbon. There was a proud grin on his face as Carlos stared for a moment longer. 

“These are perfect; I’m sure she will love them.” Lando deflated slightly. He hadn’t really considered the flowers were for a girlfriend. Carlos pulled out his wallet and paid for the flowers. “Thank you again,” he said sincerely, giving Lando yet more mixed feelings. 

“Happy to help,” he replied, forcing a smile back onto his face. 

Lando’s thoughts mostly consisted of Carlos and his mystery ‘she’ for the rest of the day. He knew it was silly to assume the flowers were for a girlfriend; men came into the flower shop all the time needing bouquets for many different types of people in their lives. Carlos could just be a doting son wanting to give his mother some lovely flowers. Or, perhaps he was a caring co-worker, needing a small token for his fellow employee. Maybe, Carlos was a teacher’s pet, wanting to impress a difficult teacher. It was very likely that the flowers were NOT for a girlfriend.

Somehow, all the pondering hadn’t set Lando’s mind at ease. He couldn’t help but continue to wonder who she was. The shop got extremely busy in the late afternoon so it wasn’t too difficult to finally push thoughts of the Spaniard out of his head. At least not until he left work. 

As Lando walked home, he passed by one of the more popular restaurants in town. He glanced into the windows as he always did, enjoying the sight of so many people sitting together and chatting. Today, though, he almost immediately caught sight of Carlos. 

He briefly considered waving, but dropped his hand as a tall, thin woman approached the table. The mystery woman was gorgeous and much too young to be his mother. Carlos smiled and jumped up, pulling her into a tight hug. It was a familiar gesture so Lando ruled out professor.

Lando felt conflicted. It was wonderful to see him so happy, but part of him wished Carlos would look at him that way. Lando sighed as the pair sat down, Carlos holding on to her hand and leaning forward to catch every word. 

Lando did his best to avoid Carlos any time he saw him on campus. He was actually succeeding at being stealthy until Friday. Carlos noticed him sitting on a bench outside the library, enjoying the rare winter sunshine. 

He waved and started to walk over, but Lando panicked, picking up his things as quickly as possible. He walked away, keeping his head down to pretend he didn’t hear Carlos call his name. 

“You did a very rude thing,” Lando told himself, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He hadn’t slept well at all, replaying the scene over in his head all night. He was definitely going to have to apologize. 

“Lando,” Kimi’s voice called through the closed bathroom door, “There’s customers waiting.” Lando heaved a deep sigh, throwing his head back in frustration. He didn’t have the strength to deal with cheery people today. 

“Coming,” he replied, carefully putting a happier expression on before leaving the quiet of his hideout. Kimi appraised him as he walked out, noticing the slightly darkened skin beneath his eyes. “Finals,” Lando shrugged, reading the concern on the older man’s face. Kimi stared at him for another moment, not believing him but not pressing him for more information. 

Lando was grateful and steeled himself for the onslaught of customers. He could already hear chatter before he even opened the door to the front room. 

“Who’s first?” he asked, only looking up when a customer approached the counter. 

“I need roses for the missus,” a gruff voice replied. 

“Special occasion?” The man shook his head. Lando glanced him over for a second, taking in the much older man’s appearance before setting off to find just the right shade of yellow. “Trust me,” he smiled, wrapping up the flowers. The man didn’t look entirely convinced but he accepted the bouquet, handing over his money. 

A deep Spanish accent caught Lando’s ears. He looked over to see Carlos milling around with the woman from before. She replied with a similar accent, pointing to a canister of muted pink dahlias. 

Carlos noticed Lando finishing up with another customer and moved towards him. The woman continued to pick up flowers, building her own bouquet. 

“My sister was very impressed with the tulips,” he said, leaning against the counter. “She told me I had to bring her here so she could see what other beautiful flowers you have.” 

“Sister,” Lando echoed, breathing out a quiet sigh of relief. Carlos glanced back at him, a curious expression on his face as he raised a brow at Lando. “I thought she was your girlfriend,” Lando explained.

“You seem very happy she is not my girlfriend,” Carlos commented, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

“I… Is that the phone? Sorry, just a moment,” Lando stammered, ducking into the back. As he swung the door open, he was immediately met by a bemused Kimi. 

“That usually works better if the phone is actually ringing,” he mentioned, a hint of a grin on his face as Lando glared at him. “Y’know, if you wanted to ask him out, that was your moment.” 

“I don’t want to ask him out,” Lando snapped, yelping as Kimi smacked the back of his head. 

“Go back out there and ask that man out. I would except I don’t like dull, brown eyes.” 

“They aren’t dull. There are little flecks of gold in them and…” Lando trailed off, realising what Kimi was doing. “Fine,” he groused, scrunching up his nose for a moment before marching back out. 

Carlos and his sister were both leaning on the counter, whispering about something. Lando cleared his throat, wanting to let them know he was behind them. Carlos’ sister elbowed him before walking to the farthest corner, busying herself with a selection of roses. 

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I was just…”

“No, it’s alright. I’m nervous,” Lando interrupted, wishing his cheeks weren’t burning bright red. He reached up to cover them. 

“You’re very cute when you blush,” Carlos murmured, pulling Lando’s hands away from his face. “Would you like to have coffee with me sometime?” 

“I would really like that,” Lando grinned, forcing himself not to look at his feet. Carlos smiled back, giving Lando’s hands a squeeze before letting them go. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Carlos/Lando and they are so much fun! I hope you enjoy!


End file.
